Not long ago, the Meschanski court also refused to release him from custody. Now his lawyers have again asked to release him.

The defence said that an answer arrived from the European Human Rights Court that Lebedev's plea will be considered by the Strasbourg court as a priority.

Liptzer said that prosecutor Dmitri Shokhin asked the court to leave Lebedev in custody because the Prosecutor's Office believes that he may hide from investigation and pressure witnesses. "The prosecutor asked the court to consider the gravity of Lebedev's crimes and the fact that he has international contacts and has a foreign passport", Liptzer said. Lebedev is accused on seven articles of the Russian Criminal Code, including tax evasion and big swindle.